


Morphea

by steponthegaslys



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Boys Being Cute, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Multi, Painkillers, Styrian GP 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:53:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25252672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steponthegaslys/pseuds/steponthegaslys
Summary: Lando's ribs are killing him following FP2 in Austria. Fortunately, he's got a combination of strong painkillers and 5 other drivers to get him through it.
Relationships: (IMPLIED), Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen, Lando Norris & Alex Albon, Lando Norris & Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris & George Russell, Lando Norris & Max Verstappen, Lando Norris & Pierre Gasly
Comments: 18
Kudos: 207





	Morphea

Lando let out a long breath as he lay down on his bed, one arm around his ribs as though it was trying to restrict their movement.

His back injury had been niggling for a while, but had always been pretty manageable. Sure, he’d need to pop some ibuprofen after standing for hours on end, or if he crashed into a wall, but it was something he’d grown used to. Regular massages and physiotherapy had kept it from getting any worse, plus he’d almost always been able to get enough rest time in to let any flares die down before they got too bad.

Styria had fucked that routine right over though. Somewhere in the afterglow of getting his first podium, he’d done _something_ to his ribs. He’d had them checked over by the medical team, had an X Ray, been thoroughly examined, but there wasn’t anything they could pinpoint and they’d said it was probably muscular. Kinesis taping, painkillers, and rest had been what they’d ordered. The tape felt like it was supportive, sure, but it didn’t exactly do anything for the pain. Rest didn’t come easy with an upcoming race and the punishing schedule that came with it though, and the painkillers they’d given him made him feel high and like he was going to be sick. He certainly wouldn’t be able to drive the car safely on them. 

It had all come to a head during FP2, and he’d had to stop. The pain in his ribs and back had overridden the part of his brain that controlled his left foot, and he knew he was avoiding braking purely to stop the G forces in play slamming him right back into the seat. He’d become breathless on one of the turns he’d actually been able to force himself into, and he knew it was game over by then. 

He’d been seen by the medics again, been urged to _rest, rest a bit more_ , and been encouraged to take the painkillers to help him do so. The evening and following morning’s media appearances had been cancelled for him, and he’d been sent back to his motorhome.

He groaned, deciding he better take their advice and take of the painkillers and try to sleep. There was a painful twinge across his upper back as he shifted up into a sitting position, and he kept his arms wrapped tightly around his ribs as he regained his breath. He swallowed the pills down dry, eager to just be able to sleep off some of whatever _this_ was instead of wasting time going getting water to go with them, then lay back down, quickly falling asleep on top of the covers.

When he woke up, Lando felt like he was floating. 

The pain was still kind of there, but it was like his brain was pulling away from his body, making the pain distant. It was a step above what it had felt like the few times he’d actually bothered trying drinking, the same warm feeling of something wrapped around him that wasn’t really there.

He stood up, suddenly ravenous. What time was it? He’d last eaten a few hours before the race, a combination of anticipation and pain making him nauseous, but that was long gone now. He really didn’t know if the meal prep from his nutritionist was going to cut it, honestly. 

His legs weren’t cooperating though, them taking too long to respond to what his brain was telling them to do, and he was sinking down onto the floor before he knew it. He frowned, looking around as he tried to figure out how the fuck to get back up if his legs weren’t working.

“Lando?” 

Lando was ecstatic when he heard that voice along with a knock on the door. George could easily get him up, even if his legs wouldn’t work. Maybe even make him some better food than his stupid meal prep. George would know what to do.

“C’min,” he shouted back, eyebrows furrowing at how slurred his words were. Was he high? Was this what being high was like? He breathed a sigh of relief when George opened the door, reaching for him.

“Is there a reason you’re on the floor, mate?” sighed George, as Charles and Pierre followed in behind him. Pierre looked pretty concerned, where Charles just looked generally confused by the whole situation. 

“Was trying to get food,” sighed Lando, wincing as George lifted him up under his arms to get him up off the floor. Whatever was going on with his ribs and back was still there apparently, even if there was a thick fog between that bit of his brain and his actual thoughts. 

“So they gave you good painkillers,” smirked Charles, spotting the box on the bedside table. “That explains it a little.”

“Your ribs are bad then?” asked Pierre sadly, going to the fridge to see what he had. He came back to the bed with the meal prep, and honestly Lando felt like he could kiss him.

  
“Easy there, you’ll make him blush saying that,” laughed George, shaking his head. Apparently he’d spoken out loud then. Oops.

“Very good painkillers,” said Pierre, glancing to Charles as he handed Lando his food.

* * *

Charles wasn’t exactly known for being the cuddliest driver - not to Lando anyway, maybe he was a bit less brooding with Pierre or Seb - but right now, laying with his head in his lap, Lando knew he’d been dead wrong to think that Charles was anything but the comfiest person to lay on ever.

Charles didn’t exactly seem happy with the whole being lay on thing - although Pierre clearly thought it was hilarious - but nobody was going to try moving him right now.

“You have really long eyelashes. How do they not get in the way?” asked Lando, looking up. 

“Yeah Charles. How do they not?” teased George, from his spot on the couch. “Come on, we want full, technical answers.”

“Maybe you should take some of those pills,” said Charles, shooting George a glare. 

“Max and Alex will be here soon,” hummed Pierre, looking up from where he was perched on the windowsill texting. “They said Daniel is fine.”

“Why wouldn’t Daniel be fine?” asked Lando, reaching up to mess with the Ferrari driver’s hair. _Damn_ it was soft. And Charles looked like he might have cut his arm off were it not for Pierre and George supervising this, but he kind of didn’t really mind that either.

“He had a crash in practice. Marko has already sent a really long email to us all about not being able to just leave and ‘fraternise with other teams’ because Max ran off after him,” said Pierre, smirking a little and meeting Charles’ eyes.

“And yet here you are. Fraternising. Marko clearly has no power here,” laughed George. “Daniil is going to be the Red Bull golden boy today.”

“Dany is busy fraternising with some girl who works for Haas tonight,” said Pierre, rolling his eyes and making a gagging motion. 

“Marko seems like no fun,” said Lando, continuing to mess with Charles’ hair. “But more fun than Binotto. Sorry Charles.”

“Finally, a contest that Williams wins,” said Charles, eyebrows furrowed as he watched Lando’s arm in front of his face. 

“What does Williams win?” asked Max as he came through the door, followed closely by Alex.

“The prize for having the most hope,” said George, holding back a laugh as he watched Alex’s eyes go wide at the sight of Lando lay in Charles’ lap. “McLaren is winning on best painkillers.”

“We can win a lot of things. Shut up,” said Lando. “Charles wins softest hair.”

“How nice for him,” said Max, managing to keep a completely straight face as he sat down. “So he’s fine then?” he asked, looking over to Pierre.

“He’s a little bit high. Nice high,” said Pierre, putting his phone away. “But he seems okay. Moving seems to hurt him a bit still though.”

“It does,” nodded Lando. “But it’s okay. Charles is comfy.”

“Charles’ leg is going numb. It’s been an hour now,” huffed Charles quietly, eyebrows furrowing until Pierre shot him a warning look. 

“And Charles is getting lots of compliments, which we know he loves,” said George, shaking his head and laughing. 

* * *

The five of them watched over Lando for the rest of the evening. Lando eventually got bored of Charles, instead deciding that Max was a better option for laying on, much to Alex’s amusement. Despite what he would have thought, Max actually took it significantly better, probably because frequent texts to Daniel took his mind off it.

Lando could slowly feel himself coming back down to earth though, the foggy barrier between his mind and the pain in his chest fading away gradually throughout an hour or so. A slight shift in the bed as George and Alex joined them caused a twinge that had him wincing and reaching for his ribs.

“It’s definitely worn off now then,” said Alex, reaching to mess with Lando’s hair. “Not only is he starting to be in pain again, but he’s not tried to speak dutch to Max for about twenty minutes now.”

“He’s not that bad at it, to be fair,” said Max, shrugging. “Better than his attempts at french.”

“How much of this did they give him?” sighed Charles, reaching for the box of painkillers and reading the sticker from the pharmacy. “Lando, how much did you take?”

“Just one,” said Lando, rubbing over his side with a wince. 

  
Charles furrowed his brow, reading the label again as Pierre looked over his shoulder. “One tablet? A full one?”

“Well obviously,” said Lando, looking over at them. 

“…it says only half. Half of one,” said Pierre, sighing. “That's what the pill cutter in the bag is for."

“Oh,” said Lando. That explained things, he supposed. He had kind of wondered how the hell they were going to expect him to drive tomorrow. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed - it's my first time writing F1 fic but Lando's radio got me straight in the heart and basically forced me to do this lol. 
> 
> Feel free to catch me on tumblr over at @pierregasiy if you want!


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